Pakistan to start importing Russian oil after March

Russia will start exporting crude oil to Pakistan after March which Islamabad will pay for in currencies of "friendly countries", Russia's energy minister said on Friday, a move that could bring relief to the energy-starved South Asian country.

Pakistan has been battling a balance of payment crisis with foreign exchange reserves falling to $4.6 billion, barely enough to cover three weeks of imports - mostly for oil.

It said in October it was considering buying discounted Russian crude, citing neighbouring India which has been purchasing from Moscow.

Pakistan officials and Russian Energy Minister Nikolay Shulginov, who is in Islamabad for an annual inter-governmental commission on trade and economy, did not specify the size of the planned purchases.

"We have agreed that the payments will be made in the currencies of friendly countries," Shulginov said at a joint news conference with Pakistan's Economic Affairs Minister Ayaz Sadiq, without elaborating.

He said the two sides have drafted an agreement to sort out issues like transportation, insurance, payments and loadings, adding: "We have already established a timeline of this agreement in our joint statement which is late March."

"We have decided that it would be a good idea for Pakistan to approach Gazprom and Novatek, two largest LNG producing companies in late 2023 to discuss the conditions when they have spare capacities," he said.